Habits
by Carnage Falcon
Summary: They say once you start manipulating people, you never stop... and apparently, it's the same for the victims. Contains mild BU spoilers.


**Disclaimer:** I don't own any of this, just the idea.

Warning: Contains spoilers for Blaze Union, of the you-should-know-this-from-the-warning variety.

* * *

Milanor wasn't stupid.

Okay, so he was a bit thick at times, as plenty of people wouldn't hesitate to tell him, but he wasn't _that_ stupid. He knew that whenever any task involving the visiting Imperial delegates was directed to him, there had to be _something_ suspicious about it. And coming from the mouth of Nessiah... well, he'd tried to refuse on the spot.

But it wasn't like he could turn his back on this, once Nessiah had used his silver-tongued ways (and several embarrassing post-war secrets he didn't need Kylier knowing) to get him to listen. Apparently there was a reason Leon was so quiet and grumpy right now instead of his usual loud, violent self – ever since the Royal Army had pummelled him into submission and Elena had stayed behind to tend to his wounds and see that the Imperial Army recovered him, he'd slowly been become less of a danger to everyone. Still loud, impulsive, and starting fights at the drop of a hat, but brought back from the brink of true insanity... well, apparently, anyway. Nessiah had had that smirk that clearly told the young thief he was dumbing things down as much as he could to spite him.

After he'd sat through enough rambling background information and tried to walk off again, Nessiah had finally gotten to the point – Leon was feeling depressed. And to prevent a backslide, someone needed to talk to him; and since it was a matter of nearly losing someone and Gulcasa was busy with negotiations all day, Milanor would be most appropriate.

The story went that there was a significant other called 'Garlot' he'd chased after for months on end. Something had happened – something Nessiah refused to disclose, making Milanor rather sure it was his fault – and they'd ultimately been separated; with many others finding significant others within the tangled weave of bonds formed after the war, bad memories were being dredged up.

So really, as dangerous as it felt walking straight up to a glowering Leon like this, Milanor couldn't turn his back.

"Want something?" Leon growled, his glare more than making up for the absence of his usual mask.

Milanor decided not to risk delaying at all. "Yeah. I heard what ya goin' through."

That glare got worse and the thief nearly thought the better of staying. "And what's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, I know what it's like," Milanor told him with a shrug. "I was nearly there myself. "

Confusion mixed with irritation on the knight's face. "What the _hell_ are you going on about."

Milanor sucked in a breath, determined to spit this all out in one go before being told to fuck off. At least then he could say he tried.

"look, everyone's pairin' up except you, and since I nearly lost Kylier, I know it's gotta suck. There's nothin' you can do about losin' Garlot, but at lea-"

"WHAT about Garlot?" Leon suddenly snarled. Milanor skipped a beat when he noticed Leon's expression – was he _blushing_?

"Look, I know what happened. You went after Garlot as hard as you could, but eventually you get rejected and..."

Leon stood up.

Milanor wasn't stupid. In fact, he figured out two things in less than half a second.

First, he'd been played.

Second, if he wanted to see another sunrise, it would be a good idea to get far, far away very quickly.

* * *

Kylier knocked on the door, and then without waiting for an answer, shoved it open. Sure enough, Nessiah was sitting by the window, looking out over the training yards. She walked right up to him, stopping a short distance away and glaring at him, hands on her hips.

"That was quite an entrance, Kylier," Nessiah said calmly, looking up to face her. "What can I do for you?"

Kylier kept glaring at him. He gave that look that was akin to raising an eyebrow, nearly fooling her with feigned innocence. Nearly.

"Come now, Kylier. You know it's rude to enter someone's quarters and not say anything."

Kylier shifted her gaze out the window. Sure enough, she could make out the two figures still running frantic laps around the training yards, exits blocked by amused bystanders. This high, however, she couldn't make out the bloody oaths the black figure was still swearing at the smaller silver one that was still barely ahead of it.

"Oh dear," Nessiah commented, his gaze following hers. "It seems your boyfriend has gotten himself in strife again."

"What did you _do_?" Kylier snapped. She'd never stay angry with Nessiah, but in the moment her words were still quite hot. "Three hours. _Three hours_ Leon has been chasing him, and he shows no signs of stopping."

"That's quite the predicament," Nessiah noted dryly. "Since this is Leon we're discussing, have you spoken to Gulcasa?"

"You know as well as I do he's stuck in meetings until sundown," she said, some of the heat starting to leave her words as his charms inevitably worked their magic on her. "The hell did you tell him to do?"

"I just shared some thoughts with him. You do keep saying you wish we'd talk more." When she kept glaring, he continued, the hints of a smile start to show. "I just speculated that perhaps it was his time chasing Garlot that was troubling Leon."

Kylier gaped – she knew from her accidental viewing of Nessiah's memories that Garlot was _not_ a feminine name. So while saying Leon had been chasing Garlot for months would be accurate, it didn't lend itself to a correct interpretation. Especially if your attention wandered and you didn't realize the context was "losing _to _Garlot", not just "losing Garlot". Like, say, if someone you didn't like had already been speaking at length about the subject.

"_Nessiah!_" She managed eventually.

"Did I do something wrong?" he asked, the picture of innocence.

"That was _mean_. They're gonna be at it until Gulcasa gets out from the meeting." Not that she was worried – Leon was armoured, Milanor wasn't, and the thief was used to running for his life – but it was the principle of the matter.

What masks Nessiah used in her presence finally slipped, a smile showing on his face. "If that is the case, I can only hope it remains amusing for that long."

Giving up with a facepalm and an exaggerated sigh, Kylier gave Nessiah's shoulder a playful shove as she sat beside him, watching as Milanor finally had the idea to scale the training yards' walls to get some breathing room, the soldiers that had been blocking the exit quickly making space for Leon.

"...Breakfast in bed says Gulcasa breaks it up before he loses him."


End file.
